“DEEP GREEN: Solutions to Stop Global Warming Now” wins Artivist Award for Environmental Preservation

I haven’t seen this film yet, but the Los Angeles Times has called Deep Green “a template” for getting off fossil fuels and the Oregonian praises the film for “offering hope instead of despair.” Sounds good.

Here’s more on the film, a direct copy of an email I received from Lyla Foggia (looks like exactly what is needed at this moment in time):

In a film filled with light-bulb moments, none seems to burn brighter than the realization that the race to stop global warming is well underway—yet the U.S.  has barely left the starting gate.  Hard as it is to believe, China— long regarded as the Darth Vader of global carbon emissions—is spending 600% more annually than the U.S. on green initiatives, even with a GNP only one-third the size.

What gives? Barbara Finamore, Director of the Natural Resource Defense Council’s China Program, points out in “DEEP GREEN: Solutions to Stop Global Warming Now”: China did its own study and discovered that “climate change is going to affect all of the areas where they are most vulnerable: their water supply, flooding, droughts, disease, and agriculture.”

Explains “Deep Green” filmmaker Matt Briggs:  For too long, China has been used as an excuse for inaction on the climate crisis.  It doesn’t matter what we do in the United States, because so many Chinese are wasting energy and killing the planet anyway. But our research showed that this was changing, and we decided to go to China to see for ourselves.  We caught the beginning of what is now an accelerating greening of China. Europe has led the way on most efforts to stop global warming, so we searched for the best diverse global warming solutions in seven countries.  Plus, we found many areas of strength and brilliant solutions in the United States.”

Directed by Briggs and photographed by Beijing-based cinematographer Andrew Clark (National Geographic Channel, BBC, and CNN), among others, “Deep Green” features compelling examples of breakthrough technology, practical ingenuity and  brilliant ideas, while searching out the best minds and applications leading to the creation of living buildings, electric transportation, sustainable farming, clean energy, and reforestation. Blended with the enthusiasm and passion with which other countries and cultures are embracing the challenge, “Deep Green” provides an inspiring perspective, along with specific suggestions on what one person can do to lower their carbon footprint and restore the natural world.

Over three years in the making, “Deep Green” is the culmination of a quest that began in the 1990s for Briggs, when he started noticing the effects of global warming on our national forests.  Concerned, he attended scores of conferences, including the first of ten Bioneers in 1999.  Prior to shooting a single frame, Briggs also spent four years pouring over the latest research through scientific journals and more than 400 books.  Notably, when “Deep Green” began principal photography in July 2007, “many of the solutions—such as the first solar thermal plants, hybrid electric cars, and living buildings – had not advanced beyond the concept stage, or were just being built while we were shooting the movie.  The science and the literature caught up.  This became a seven year project and the science got stronger and the solutions got better.  Now we know that over 75% or most of global warming is man-caused, and we know how to fix it,” says Briggs.

Among the widely-respected authorities featured in the film are Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, bestselling author Michael Pollan, Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Dr. David Suzuki, former CIA Director James Woolsey, electric transportation guru Edward Kjaer, and Finamore.

From the beginning, Briggs imagined a way of inspiring a new generation of green achievers through the universal appeal of animation—so he commissioned 11 world class short films from the award-winning Bent Image Lab in Portland, Oregon.  Included are eight humorous vignettes featuring the distinctive line-drawing style of  French-born artist Pascal Campion and the free-standing environmental shorts: “The Krill is Gone” about the devastating impact of CO2 on the world’s oceans, and “Trees” on how cutting down our forests creates even more CO2.  Both feature the voice of SpongeBob legend Tom Kenny, along with a commanding performance by his wife, Jill Talley, as the ditzy krill.

“Deep Green,” “The Krill is Gone,” and “Trees” have been featured in film festivals around the world.  Among them, the Artivist Film Festival in Los Angeles and New York selected “Deep Green” and “The Krill is Gone” as its 2010 winners of the Best Environmental Preservation Award for Feature Film and Short Subject respectively.   “Krill” was also named the recent winner of the Blue Ocean Film Festival Award for Children’s Programming.

The Los Angeles Times has called “Deep Green” “a template” for getting off fossil fuels.  The Oregonian has also praised the film for “offering hope instead of despair.”  The Portland Tribune noted: “Deep Green doesn’t have super heroes, flying monsters, 3-D, big stars, love interests or comedy of questionable taste. What it does have is energy, passion, imagination….”  Among the others, theExaminer.com reported: “’Deep Green’ is an eye-opening film that utilizes science, technology, reality and compassion to highlight not only the responsibility each individual has for reducing mankind’s carbon footprint on the planet to solve the global warming crisis….’Deep Green’ does a great job of explaining why energy conservation is critical to the survival of living things on the planet…”

DVDs of “Deep Green” are available through Amazon.com for $15.99.  To purchase multiple copies at discount or a license to exhibit the film publicly, call 503-635-4469 or email [email protected].  For more information about the film, visit www.DeepGreenMovie.com.

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